Gathering

A large group of friends and I celebrated my birthday with dinner at C & O Trattoria, where the waiters stop the whole restaurant to toast the patrons and sing "That's Amore" every hour, and where there was apparently some kind of armed conflict outside. Later, at "Saints and Sinners," there were more friends and tequila cocktails, and my reserved party space was almost (but hell no, not) stolen by another girl named Jessica who insisted the space was saved for her birthday party.

Birthday

On my surprise birthday camping trip in Joshua Tree, Artur insisted that "trails are just a suggestion." Here's my suggestion: one's birthday is not a good day to die while hiking up a small mountain / large hill.